


Found Family, Part Two: Neena.

by Actual_Writing_Trashcan



Series: Colossus Hyperfixation Collection [43]
Category: Deadpool (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Allusions to abuse, But it's there, F/M, Mention of injuries, allusions to rape, and it isn't about you or Neena, and unlike Wade she actually has her shit together, can she adopt me please?, like it's very non-graphic, neena is the coolest big sister ever, the next installment of this v fluffy miniseries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 04:25:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18613108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Actual_Writing_Trashcan/pseuds/Actual_Writing_Trashcan
Summary: An overview of your siblingship with your cool big sister, Neena "Domino" Thurman.(Connections to "Authority Issues," "Myshka," "Rubber Meets Road," and "Decisions, Decisions.")[All warnings in the tags.]





	Found Family, Part Two: Neena.

You didn’t grow up with siblings. You’re pretty sure your parents only had you to fulfill the societal expectation of having children and creating a family. They definitely didn’t have any kids after your mutation presented –one “abomination” had been enough for them, fuck them very much.

You hadn’t realized just how deeply, desperately lonely you were until you escaped to the Institute, until you were surrounded by people every day and could talk to them, hang out with them, laugh with them.

And Wade’s a godsend, if God exists and has a really weird sense of humor. He’s a ball of chaos and has the  _best_  sense of humor. He sticks to your side like glue most days, and you don’t know what you’d do without him.

But Wade isn’t always around. And, despite his best efforts, he doesn’t manage to take care of all the things you need to learn.

Fortunately for you, you’ve got the coolest big sister to lend a hand whenever Wade’s off running a mission –or his mouth, as the case may be.

Neena “Domino” Thurman.

 

* * *

 

 

Neena is, without a doubt, the single coolest person you’ve ever met. She’s stylish. She walks with swagger. And, unlike Wade, she actually has her shit together.

You don’t get to see as much of her as you see of Wade; she has her own apartment and does work out side of the X-Force stuff, but she occasionally pops over to the X-Mansion to train with some of the people there or talk to Xavier.

Point stands: the two of you haven’t spent much time together. You’re usually running around with Wade anyway.

Until one morning, she pulls out the chair next to yours at the breakfast table and sits down next to you. “Do you have a bank account?”

You, unfortunately, are in the middle of horking down as many pancakes as you can in one sitting. You try to swallow the mass amount of mush in your mouth –and when it’s clear you won’t be able to do that without choking, you just shake your head.

“I didn’t think so.” She smiles and pats your arm. “I’m training with Logan today. Come find me when you’re done eating. I’ll help you get one set up.”

You blink after her as she walks away. You’re not exactly sure what just happened –or why it just happened—but you’re pretty certain that the coolest, most together person you know just offered to help you get your life in order.

Well. You’re definitely not gonna turn that down.

 

* * *

 

 

The two of you set up shop in the dining room when she’s done training. As fortune would have it –part of you is starting to wonder if Neena’s probability powers extend through time and space—you’d had the foresight to grab your birth certificate and social security card before running away from home. Add the laptop Wade bought for you, and you’re all set to make your own bank account; you don’t even need to leave the mansion –bonus!

Wade pops into the mix in the middle of it all. He’s resplendent in his suit, freshly back from a mission with Cable. He cocks his head to the side when he see your documents and laptop on the table. “What did I say about giving your information to Internet trolls!”

“Nothing. Ellie taught me about Internet safety, not you,” you fire back. “And I’m not!”

“I’m helping her set up a bank account,” Neena explains.

Wade goes quiet for a moment as he processes that. “Huh. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Hey, let me know when you’re done; I can give you some cash!”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Sure I do! What are siblings for? Besides, I don’t do my taxes, so this a good way to make sure that my dough gets distributed.” He ruffles your hair, then stares at his gloved hand. “I probably shouldn’t have done that. There’s so much blood on my suit.”

“Ew!” You wipe at your hair with your hands, then shove him away from you. “Go take a shower, you fucking cretin!”

“Ooh, ‘cretin!’ That’s a fancy insult! Very—” Whatever he’d been about to say next is abruptly cut off by a very tired, very pissed Cable grabbing him by the collar of his suit and yanking him back, effectively choking him.

“Shower, you walking, talking dildo,” Cable growls as he shoves Wade in the direction of the locker rooms used for clean up after training and mission.

“Ooh, is this the part where we shower together? Shit, I don’t think I have any lube on me –ow!”

Neena shakes her head as the two men disappear from view. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand how Cable hasn’t killed Wade yet.”

“Who’s to say he hasn’t? It’s not like it’d stick.”

“Fair enough. Alright, click that box –that gets you a debit card. You’re gonna want that for shopping and stuff. Cash is good, and you’ll definitely want to stick with it if you have to go under for a bit, but plastic’s good for regular life stuff. Helps set up a paper trail and all that.”

You do as she instructs, then glance over at her. “Thanks for, uh, helping me with all this. I don’t think I would’ve ever considered to open my own bank account.”

The corner of her mouth turns up in a smile. “I had to figure this all out on my own after I left Essex House. Even if I’m lucky, I still wish that I’d had someone to help me with this shit.” She looks over at you. “Always pay it forward. Be the person to others you wish you’d had.”

You nod, humbled.

She studies you for a moment, then nods at the laptop. “Alright. Let’s get this wrapped up for you.”

 

* * *

 

 

You don’t see much of Neena after that. You’re busy training –and breaking shit with Wade—and she’s busy having her life together and being super cool—

Until you run into her in a hallway at Xavier’s. “Oh! Neena! Hi!”

She grins at you. “What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much.” You heft the laundry basket you’re holding. “Laundry day.”

She frowns at the small pile of clothes in the basket. “You don’t have much to your name, do you?”

“I kinda had to take whatever would fit in a backpack when I left,” you explain. “I can’t exactly fly with a suitcase.”

“Makes sense.” She cocks her head to the side. “Do you have any plans for today?”

“I mean… I need to put my clean laundry away.”

She smirks. “And after that?”

“Uh… not really, no.”

“Cool; me either.” She grins. “Let’s go shopping.”

 

* * *

 

 

She takes you out to a couple stores, helps you stock up on shirts and pants and pajamas and –everything you’d wear day in, day out, basically. You need just about everything.

The two of you swing by a coffee shop after to get a bite to eat.

You marvel at the stylish purple and blue exterior. “How’d you learn about this place?”

“Lucky find.”

You squint at her. “Do you ever get tired of saying stuff like that?”

She grins. “Nope.”

 

* * *

 

 

The two of you –and the hundred million bags from your excursion—bump into Colossus as you make your way back into the mansion.

“You had very busy day.” He frowns as you wrestle with your armload of bags. “Do you need help?”

“Uh, I think—” You curse as one of the handles on the bags breaks. “Yes, actually. That’d be great.”

He takes the majority of the bags –he’s got the hand size and arm strength for it—and the three of you head up to your room to get everything sorted.

You’re chattering a mile a minute about your day, what the stores were like, the coffee shop. “—and they have a trivia question of the day, and if you can answer it correctly you get a free pastry with your drink! I thought that kind of thing only happened in TV shows.”

“It’s pretty common,” Neena says with a chuckle. “If it wasn’t, they wouldn’t have it in TV shows.”

You shrug. “It’s not common in the middle of nowhere.” Your jaw clenches involuntarily, and you start digging through your bags and tossing clothes on your bed before you’re swamped by bad memories. “Look! I got so much cool stuff!”

Colossus chuckles at the flurry of fabric. “Perhaps you should take tags off first.”

“Oh, yeah.” You try tugging the price tag off the shirt in your hand, then tug at it with your teeth when it doesn’t give.

“ _Myshka_ —”

“Hang on.” The tag breaks, and you spit it on the floor with a triumphant laugh. “See –aw, fuck. The little plastic thingy didn’t come out.”

Colossus smiles at you and shakes his head. “Wait one moment. I will get scissors.”

Neena smirks as he walks out the door, then gives you a  _look_  when his footsteps fade down the hall. “I’m pretty sure he likes you.”

You roll your eyes. “ _No_. We’re just  _friends_.”

“I know you like him,” she fires back.

“Well, that doesn’t mean he  _likes_ me,” you retort, ignoring the way your heart squeezes painfully in your chest. “So there.”

Neena shakes her head. “Whatever you say –but I’m usually right about these sorts of things.”

You quash the hope swelling in your chest and go back to unloading the bags from your shopping trip.  _It won’t happen. Don’t get your hopes up_.

 

* * *

 

 

Your outings with Neena become a regular thing after that. She helps you fill out your closet, pushes you to apply for a library card, takes you to various shops around New York when you both have time.

She also becomes a bit of a confidant when you’re dealing with stuff you don’t want to talk to Wade about; he’s wonderful and hilarious and surprisingly wise, but Wade’s also unhinged and unstable. Cable –Nate—is aloof and just as lost in the present as you are.

And, sure, most of the X-Men come from unhappy pasts, but Neena just… gets it in a way that the X-Men don’t.

Sometimes, even, you think she gets some of it better than you do.

 

* * *

 

 

Case in point, when she walks into your room and drops a basic padlock, a set of  _real_  handcuffs, and a lock picking kit on your bed. “How was your day?”

“…Good.” You look at the stuff on your bed, then look at her. “What’s all that for?”

“I’m teaching you how to pick locks.”

“I can do that with my powers.”

She grimaces. “You won’t always have them.”

You shrug –she has a point after all. You open the kit and pick up the padlock, then stop and look up at her. “Won’t your presence affect my ability to do it? Like, make it easier?”

“Practice is practice,” she says simply, and that’s that. She shows you how to do it once, how to hold the tools properly, and then sits down on your desk chair while you have at it.

You work at the padlock with the lockpick, but you can’t help but notice the way Neena’s knee bounces up and down boot rubbing against the carpet with a soft scuffing sound.

You glance up at her after a moment, note the way her arms are crossed over her chest and she’s staring off at nothing. “You okay?”

She swallows visibly. “Job,” she offers after a moment, as if that explains everything.

And you guess it does, sort of. You’ve been around Wade and Nate after jobs have gone wrong. Wade’s always a little twitchier after, a little more homicidal; Nate doesn’t have many visible tics, but throws himself into work like the world depends on it.

Which, considering the jobs he does, maybe it does.

But this is the first time you ever seen Neena rattled.

It’s disconcerting.

“Didn’t go well?” you venture.

She shrugs. “Got paid.” She sighs when you put the lock and pick to stare at her –a clear sign that you want her to talk. “I was hired to rescue some rich millionaire’s daughter. The paycheck was good, he’s an environmental and queer rights activist, so I figured why not.” Her mouth tugs into a harsh grimace. “Didn’t make it in time.”

You stomach drops –and then you frown. “But… why would you get paid…”

She shakes her head. “Not that kind of ‘in time.’ The other kind.”

It takes you a second, and then—  _oh_.

Oh.

_No wonder she’s so rattled._

“It just… it reminded me of when your parents hired bounty hunters to get you back,” she admits wearily. “If Colossus hadn’t gotten there when he did…”

You shudder at the memory. “Yeah.”

She looks at you, finally. “You’re not always going to have your abilities to help you. The more tools you have under your belt, the better –whether they’re ‘ethical’ or not.”

You nod. You get it.

You start practicing on the padlock again.

 

* * *

 

 

Neena’s the one that teaches you how to drive after you crash a car with Wade, too.

She’s smirking at you when you when you walk into the garage at Xavier’s. “What, exactly, made you think that  _Wade fucking Wilson_  would be a good driving instructor?”

You scowl a little, even though you deserve it. “I wasn’t exactly  _thinking_. At least, not about that.”

She laughs and nods for you to get into the driver’s seat.

 

* * *

 

 

She takes you out on back roads –and keeps you at the speed limit, unlike Wade.

You drive for a while, getting the feel of the vehicle, how to turn properly, how to avoid potholes.

Eventually, Neena speaks. “How are you and Pete doing?”

“Better,” you say as you steer the car around a curve. “It’s been a little tense for a couple days, but I think we’re alright.”

“Story is that the two of you had a pretty bad fight.”

You let out a huff. “Something like that, yeah.”

 

* * *

 

 

After an hour and a half, the two of you are back in the garage at the Institute.

Neena pulls out a bag of tools before you can make a break for the mansion. “We’re not done yet.”

You frown at the tool bag. “What are those for?”

She grins. “I’m teaching you how to hotwire a car.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Wow. Hold the fucking phone for a minute.” Neena stares at you while you work on picking the lock on the driver’s side door. “‘As much as I deserve having to deal with each escalation in your behavior the longer you refuse to deal with void left by your parents.’ He actually said that to you?”

You grimace, but nod. “He was mad at me.”

“No shit. Doesn’t make it right.” She leans against the hood of the car as she watches you work. “You’re staying with him after that?”

“That’s the plan.” You toss a quick glance her way. “You think I shouldn’t?”

She shrugs. “Hey, it’s your choice. Frankly, I’m a little more worried about his control issues than anything else.”

“Ah.  _That_.” You chuckle a little. “Yeah, I’m good with that.”

“You sure?”

You nod after a moment of thought. “Piotr’s tendencies… it usually isn’t about shit like this. It’s about little stuff. It’s about how the fridge is organized, or his teaching schedules, or me eating enough vegetables. Stuff I don’t necessarily care about, stuff that doesn’t hurt me or anyone else.”

Neena nods in understanding. “And what happens if it turns into something worse? Something that does hurt you?”

“That’s a bridge I’ll have to cross if and when it happens,” you say with a shrug. The car door picks that moment to pop open, and you let out a whoop of victory. “Awesome!”

There’s the sound of footsteps outside, and then Piotr’s striding into the garage. He frowns when he sees you and Neena. “ _Myshka,_  what are you doing?”

“I’m teaching her how to hotwire a car,” Neena says amicably. Her expression sharpens when Piotr’s turns to exasperation –and suddenly you can see the well-trained mercenary and fighter that hides just underneath her skin—and she points a finger at him. “She’s already been kidnapped  _once_. If it happens again, knowing how to hotwire a car is a skill that she will  _need_.”

Piotr relents with a grimace, even if it’s just barely. “I came to tell you dinner is almost ready.”

“Alright. I’ll try to be done in about twenty.”

He sighs, but doesn’t argue. “Will you be staying, Neena?”

She smiles. “Sure.”

 

* * *

 

 

She stops by to visit you after Wade and Nate move out after the incident in Hell’s Kitchen.

You’re out on the back patio, enjoying the late afternoon sun and the warm weather –with that damn wheelchair nearby, because heaven forbid you try to go anywhere without it.

You’ve got new sympathy for Charles, that’s for sure.

There’s the familiar sound of Neena’s boots in the kitchen, and then she appears by your side -with a box of Poptarts in hand, bless her. “I bring gifts.”

You grab the box from her and tear it open; you rip open a package –strawberry flavored, one of your favorites—and shove half a pastry in your mouth with abandon and complete indifference to whatever judgement you might receive. “You’re my hero.”

She laughs as she sits down in the seat next to yours. “I figured Pete would be keeping you on a clean diet. Thought I’d hook you up.”

She’s dressed in a distressed, light wash denim jacket, a white tank top that has ‘i do it better’ written on it in pink lettering, green shorts patterned with four leaf clovers, her boots, and sunglasses.

She’s the coolest person you’ve ever seen, bar none.

“How’s your leg?” she asks as she swipes a packet of Poptarts for herself.

You let out an annoyed huff, partially at your injury, partially at the pastry theft. “Hurts, even with the meds. And I can’t do anything for myself –though Piotr does have to help me shower, so…”

She cackles when you let your voice trail off and waggle your eyebrows suggestively. “Yeah, yeah, you’ve got a sweetheart of a man who loves to get you off whenever you ask for it.  _We know_. Rub it in, why don’t you.”

You mime rubbing soap on her arm, then let your hand drop back in your lap. The two of you giggle for a bit, amused with yourselves.

“What happened?” you ask after the laughter dies off completely. “After I was taken into the hospital. Why isn’t Piotr talking to Nate? I mean, I know they’re mad at each other…”

Neena chuckles darkly and clucks her tongue. “You know you almost died, right?”

“Yeah. Piotr said as much.”

She nods. “Just checking. Anyway, he—” She chuckles again. “He hauled off on Cable as soon as the medics took you into the hospital. I’m surprised he didn’t break his nose; he might’ve been armored down, but he swung  _hard_.” She goes quiet for a minute, considering, then adds “I think that’s the angriest I’ve ever seen him.”

“He punched dad?” You almost can’t believe it. You know Piotr gets angry, but his version of aggression is usually verbal or emotional.

Well, he’s hauled off on Wade once or twice, but  _Wade_  is  _Wade_.

You never thought he’d do it to anyone else.

“He was pissed with him,” Neena says evenly. “Blamed Cable for taking you into a mission you didn’t have enough training for.”

You groan and pinch the bridge of your nose. “Seriously?”

“Castle sided with him, too,” Neena says. “Said you were too green for the environment.”

And, well, they might be right on that, but  _punching people is not the answer, Piotr, for Christ’s sake_.

“What do you think?”

“I think you’re not a mercenary and usually don’t go against people with guns. That makes you green.”

You slump in your seat. “Fair enough.”

Neena pats your shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”

“I know.”

The two of you sit in silence for a bit.

This is the one thing that Neena’s better at than Wade by miles. Wade doesn’t do silence; he always has to be doing something, always has to be saying something.

You get it; you used to be the same way. But since getting into therapy, Alyssa’s had you working on being more comfortable with quiet, with stillness.

Neena’s a good person to practice with, if nothing else.

Eventually, though, you bite the bullet and ask her the one thing you know Piotr won’t tell you. “How bad was it? When… when I…”

She squeezes your hand reassuringly –and then tells you the truth. “It was bad. You almost destroyed the dock.”

“I killed people.” It isn’t a question.

She nods. “All of the traffickers. A couple of the victims, too. There’s always collateral with this kind of stuff.”

You let out a shaky breath and try to keep that at the forefront of your mind.

You only partially succeed.

“You’re a powerhouse,” Neena says casually, like it would fit alongside ‘pass me a fork please’ or ‘put milk on the grocery list.’ “I didn’t realize how strong you were until I saw you at the docks.”

“You’ve seen me fight before.”

“Yeah, but I’ve never seen you cut loose. It’s impressive.”

“Just once, I’d like to ‘cut loose’ without _losing it_.”

“You’ll get there,” she says, squeezing your hand once more. “I know you will.”

“You can’t know that,” you argue.

“I’m not usually wrong about these sorts of things.” She grins at you. “I was right about Pete liking you.”

You roll your eyes. “Lucky guess.”

“Sometimes luck’s all you need.”

“I could definitely use some more,” you grumble.

“I think you’re doing pretty good, all things considered. Hell, you might even be luckier than me, given all the odds you’ve faced down.”

You huff at that. “I don’t randomly find fifty dollar bills on the sidewalk.”

“Different kinds of luck for different kinds of people,” she says with a smile.

And then Piotr comes out with some water and your next round of antibiotics and pain pills, and you can’t help but smile at the sight of him.

Yeah, you’re pretty lucky.


End file.
